Man accused of stealing a car and breaking into a Chehalis apartment while under the influence of meth on Monday

By Emily Fitzgerald / [email protected]

Bail was set at $100,000 for a man accused of stealing a car while its owner was pumping gas into another vehicle on Jackson Highway in Chehalis, punching the car's owner in the face, driving the car to Sanderson Road, jumping a fence and breaking into an occupied residence before fleeing into the woods on Monday.

The man, identified as Alexander Meyer, 38, of Chehalis, was located and arrested by Lewis County Sheriff's Office officials on Monday.

According to jail records, he was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 6:55 p.m. Monday.

On Tuesday, he was arraigned in Lewis County Superior Court on charges of first-degree robbery, auto theft, first-degree trespassing and fourth-degree assault.

According to court documents, Meyer allegedly got into a Stafford Towing vehicle while a Stafford Towing employee was filling his tow truck with a gas can that had run out of gas in the 2600 block of Jackson Highway.

The employee reported that a man, later identified as Meyer, approached him from behind, got into the company car and said “thank you.”

The employee “thought the man was joking, told him to stop and attempted to drag him out of the vehicle,” court documents say.

Meyer then allegedly hit the employee “directly in the face and sped away in the company car.”

The employee said he saw the vehicle driving up Sanderson Road, where officers soon received a call from a resident who reported “a man jumped his fence, broke into his home and wouldn't leave,” according to court documents.

The homeowner stated that he was outside of his property when he observed a vehicle stop in front of his closed gate and a man exit the vehicle, jump over the closed fence and walk to the front door of the property.

According to court documents, Meyer allegedly pushed open the front door and entered the house while the homeowner yelled at him and asked what he was doing.

According to court documents, Meyer allegedly refused to leave the house until the homeowner called police at 5:52 p.m.

Nothing was stolen or damaged from the apartment.

Meyer reportedly fled to a nearby wooded area behind the property, where he was heard “screaming continuously.”

According to court documents, he repeatedly shouted curses at a deputy sheriff and tried to escape his grasp as the deputy led him out of the woods.

When questioned, Meyer reportedly said, “That was his damn house and his damn car.” He later stated that the car belonged to his cousin, and later still he stated that it belonged to his grandson.

Investigators have confirmed that the vehicle belongs to Stafford Towing. Food and other personal items belonging to the employee who was driving the car at the time of the theft were found inside the vehicle.

Meyer reportedly told an officer that he was “actively using methamphetamine and had been awake continuously for seven days.”

“It is very clear from the allegations that this appears to be a substance use disorder,” Judge Joely Yeager said of Meyer's case during a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, August 27.

While defense attorney Rachael Tiller said Meyer could comply with release conditions prohibiting him from using drugs or alcohol, which she said “should eliminate any safety concerns,” Yeager said there was no way to monitor meth use before trial.

Because there was no way to monitor Meyer's drug use and the charges posed an “extreme risk to public safety,” Yeager set Meyer's bail at $100,000.

The arraignment is scheduled for Thursday, September 5.